Life in isolation: A priest finds new connections with God and his congregation

When Father Paul Lundrigan got a call from Caul's Funeral Home in St. John's, he was glad the business was alerting him that he may have been exposed to the coronavirus.

"I was actually kind of reassured by it. I thought they took a great leadership role in not trying to hide this or play it down or leave it to somebody else to do," he said.

"As soon as they got the call, they started calling around to people and started spreading the word immediately, so that we could take appropriate measures."

Lundrigan the parish priest of Holy Trinity, St. Agnesand St. Michael's Roman Catholic churches presided at a funeral service at Caul's on March 16.

Someone who had visited the funeral home from March 15 to 17 later tested positive for COVID-19. As of Friday, at least 68 cases have been related to that exposure so far.

Lundrigan said he noticed at the funeral attendees were practising physical distancing.

"It was really good to see that people did spread out through the chapel," he said.

"I noticed a few people who, as others got into different pews and seats ahead of them, they either moved back or moved over, so that there was some distance between them."

Lundrigan said he was very conscious at the time about physical distancing and sanitizing his hands.

"A few people who were coming towards the back of the chapel at the end, extended their hands, and I moved back and said, 'Sorry, we can't shake hands right now.' They all understood," he said.

It's helped me to, in many ways, rediscover my own prayer life, and to also find a new connection not only with God, but with a lot of people out there.- Father Paul Lundrigan

Even though he didn't exhibit any symptoms, Lundrigan said he went into self-isolation as soon as he found out and now, as instructed by the province's chief medical officer of health, he will remain in isolation until April 1.

Lundrigan, who describes himself as an extrovert who doesn't spend much time at home, said the isolation has so far been an opportunity for quiet reflection and prayer.

"It's helped me to in many ways rediscover my own prayer life, and to also find a new connection not only with God, but with a lot of people out there," he said.

Connected through technology

Lundrigan said social media has been a great tool for him to connect with others.

Last Sunday, he live streamed mass for the first time on his parish's Facebook page.

"The response from that has been phenomenal," he said.

Lundrigan said he was expecting to reach a couple of hundred parishioners. Instead, more than 1,000 people watched the service live, and a couple thousand more tuned in afterwards.

People really felt that a need was fulfilled for them in doing this.- Father Paul Lundrigan

He said he also enjoyed all of the positive comments, emails and texts he has since received as well as stories from people who connected with family members that are living away.

"But we're all here together. We're celebrating this, we're worshipping together, we're praying together," he said.

"It was a really warming thing for a lot of them and then an encouraging thing, when a lot of them are so nervous right now and worried about a family [member] at home, or family away. And it was a nice way to kind of get everybody together at the one time."

Mass will again be live streamed this Sunday, though it will look different there will be no choir and readers present this time, because of Lundrigan's isolation.

He said he intends for the online presence to continue.

"People really felt that a need was fulfilled for them in doing this. we just provided the space," he said.

"If we can provide that for people, most definitely, we will be doing it until the restrictions are lifted, and we can start gathering publicly again."

Read more from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador